Fuel injecting and igniting means for oil engines



March 1s, 1930. E A, spgm 1,751,254

FUEL INJECTING AND IGNITING MEANS FOR OIL ENGINES Filed May 25. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l March i8, E935. v E. A. SPERRY 751254- FUEL INJECTING AND IGNITING MEANS FOR OIL `ENGINES Filed May 25. 1922` 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 1S, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE ELMER A.` SPERRY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO SPERRY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, F DOVER GREEN, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE FUEL INJECTING AND IGNITING MEANS FOB OIL ENGINES Application led May 25,

This invention relates to internal combustion engines using oil as a fuel, and in which the oil is injected into the cylinder by means of super-compressed air to effect vaporization. It has been found in large engines that when the inlet valve is throttled down for idling, the pressure under which the fuel is injected into the cylinder is often cut down t'o an extent suiiicient to prevent effective spraying and vaporization. This invention has for one of its objects the provision of means whereby the amount of fuel supplied to the cylinder may be cut down at will, without materially affecting the character of the oil spray produced or the pressure under which the diminished char e of fuel is injected into the cylinder. or this purpose, there are provided a plurality of inletl valves in place of the single valve heretofore used, so-that instead of throttling the valve to reduce the quantity of fuel supplied to the cylinder, as was formerly the case, one or more of the inlet valves in ythe present invention may be rendered ineffective while the remaining inlet valves each operate at full efficiency. In this manner proper vaporization is 4obtained even when the fuel supply is cut down.

A. further object of this invention is the provision of means automatically controlled by the speed ofthe engine for cutting in or out one or more of the inlet valves. y Another object is the provision of a novel, highly eflicient and inexpensive packing for plungers, valve stems andsimilar operating members.l y v Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear. l

Referring to the drawings wherein I have shown what I now consider to be thepreferred forms of my invention,

Fig'. 1 is a planview of a cylinder provided with a plurality of inlet valves and showing one form of valve-actuating mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through a cylinder head equipped with valves which are sim- 1922. Serial No. 563,735.

a second form of valve-actuating mechanism. p

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a cylinder head equipped with a plurality of inlet valves, and

showing means whereby one or more of said valves may be rendered effective.

F ig. 4 is a vertical, section through one form of inlet valve and valve-operating mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing manual'and automatic control means for controlling the means which renders the valves eective.

Fig. 6 is a plurality of separated sections showing the relative positions of the valve stems and the means which renders the valves eective.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation, partly sectioned, of the valve-operating means and controlling means therefor.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing another form `of valve-operating mechamsm.

Fig. 9 is a vertical section showing my novel packing applied to the plunger of a pump.

Fig. 10 is a section taken on the line X-X of Fig. 4Q

In Fig. 1 there is shown diagrammatically at 10 a cylinder head which in this instance is equipped with four inlet valves shown at 11, 12, 13, 14 which may be of the type shown in Fig. 4. Although four valves are shown here,

it should be understood that thel invention applies where the cylinder head is provided with more orl less valves. Each of these valves com rises an inlet 15, through which the fuel is a mitted under pressure to thechamber 16, one or morepassages extending from chamber 16 to the nozzle or'orices 19 (see Fig. 10), and a valve-stemvl?. normally seated at 18 to closesaid nozzle or orifices. For opening the valve there may be provided an operatinfr lever (see Fig. 4 journaled on a fixed s aft 2'6 and provide with arms 27 which engage the upper end of the valvestem .its full at 28, so that upon raising lever 25 the .valvestem is raised to lift the valve oif its seat, and the fuel is discharged through nozzle 19 under ressure.

As il ustrated, the cylinder is provided With four valves and the operating levers 25 of said valves converge toward a point, so that all of said arms may conveniently be operated simultaneously. For this purpose there is provided an operating member 30 pivoted at one end at 31 and having its other end 32 in contact with one arm 33 of a lever pivoted at 34 and whose other arm 36 is actuated by a timing cam 35 (see Fig. l) carried upon a shaft 38. Each time the cam engages the arm 36 it will depress the latter to raise arm 33, and hence, raise operating member 30 and the operating levers 25 in Contact therewith. The contact between the operating member 30 and operating lever 25 is eiected by means of an adjusting screw 40 i'n the inner end of each of said levers 25. It will be obvious that by raising the screw above operating member 30, a distance y in excess of the rise of said member due to cam 35, the respective valve will not be operated. In this manner one o r more of the inlet valves may be rendered temporarily ineffective and thus reduce the quantity of fuel introduced into the cylinder at each charge. The fuel passing through the effective valves, however, is discharged under full pressure. This would not be the case where but a single valve was employed and throttled to reduce the quantity of fuel injected into the cylinder at each charge, for in the latter case the pressure of injectioniwould be correspondingly reduced and thus seriously impair the eiiicient vaporization of the fuel.

In Fig. 2 the same principle is embodied in a modified structure. A plurality of 'valves 41 having valve-stems 42 which, when depressed, open the respective valves to permit fuel to pass out of chambers 43, are adapted to be operated by levers 45, similar to levers 25, and pivoted at 46. Contact between levers 45 and the valve-stems is effected by adjustable screws 50, similar to screws 40, and engagingflanges 44 on the upper ends of the valve-stems. Levers 45 converge to a point, the inner ends contacting with a ilange 47 at the upper end of a plunger 48 operating in a bore 49 in the head 52. For operating the flange 47 downwardly against the levers 45 there may be provided an operating member similar to member 30 and adapted to be depressed by the cam 35 at regular intervals. In this modification one vor more of the screws 50 may be withdrawna distance greater than the total downward movement of levers 45,

so that the'respectivefvalves will not be operated. In this case also `it is thus possible to reduce the quantity of fuel employed at each charge without reducing the' pressure of injection.

A third embodiment of my invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 5 to 7, inclusive. In this case also a plurality of valves are employed, each valve being preferably of the. type shown in Fig. 8. rlhese valves are similar to those shown. in Fig. 4 with the exception of the operating levers 25, which have rods 55 att-ached thereto and projecting upwardly above the valves, said rods terminating in heads 56 whereby the valves are operated. All of' said heads 56 extend through openings 57, 58, 59, 60 in a plate 61, said plate having projections 62, 63, 64, 65, on its vupper face, which extendsubstantially to the lower surfaces of the heads 56...-V Normally the projections are out of vert-ical alignment with the heads 56 and the plate 61 may be reciprocated, by cam 35 operating levers 70 and 71, without operating the valves. By rotating the plate 61 about a vertical central axis, the projections may be brought into register with heads 56' to operate the valves upon reciprocation of the plate. It will be apparent from Figs. 3, 5 and 6 that the projections are so positioned that upon rotation of plate 61, these projections will engage successively beneath the heads 56. Thus in Fig. 5, projection 62 will be the lirst to engage a head 56 to render one valve eective.` Upon further rotation of plate 61, projection 63 will engage a head 56, while the head on projection 62 rides further therealong. Still further rotation of plate 61 will render'a third and a fourth valve effective successively. It will be understood that as many projections are providedas there are valves, in this case,

lfour. When all the valves are effective, i. e.,

in position on their respective projections so as to be operated by `reciprocation of the plate, they will appear as shown in plan in F ig. 3. If it is desired to reduce the quantity of fuel supplied to the .cylinder at each charge, the plate 61 may be'rotated lin the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3 Auntil one or more heads, asdesired, leave the projections. Each of the valves which remain effective supplies its full charge under full pressure to the cylinder, and so does not diminish the vaporizing effect of the injection.

For rotating the plate 61, the latter may have a hub 7 5. to which is fixed a crank 76, said crank being rotated by any suitable linkage. In the present instance, this linkage includes a link 77 connected at one end to crank 76 and at the other end to one arm 78 of a bell-crank 79, the other arm 80 of said bell-crank when raised or lowered operating to rotate crank 76 and plate 461. The arm 80 may be setby a handle 81 forming one arm of a bell-crank 82, the other arm 83 of which has a pin and groove connection 84 withl a tube 85. The-end of arm 80 has a similar pin and groove connection 86 with said tube, so that by operating handle 81,

tube 85 may be raised or lowered to rotate bell-crank 79 and plate 61.

The amount of fuel supplied to the cylinder may thus be initially set by the handle 81, and by connecting tube 85 to the movable elements 87 of a governor, so that movement of said elements causes movement of tube 85, and hence of plate 61, the speed may In all of the modifications hereinbefore described, it is possible to adjust the throw of the valve-stem. In the modifications of Figs. 1 and 2 this is accomplished by adjusting `the screws 40 and 50 respectively, of the effective valves, or by the screw in the end 32 of arm 30 in Fig. 1, or by varying the position of the lever arm 36 relative to cam 35 on shaft 38. By suitably limiting the movement of arm 36, and by adjusting screws 40 or 50, 0r by providing other adjustable lostmotion connections between lever 30 and the valve stems, it is possible to open any number of the valves, as desired. In the modification of'Figs. 3 and 5 to 7, inclusive, the adjust,- ment is accomplished by raising lever by .means of a crank 90 and eccentric 91 to raise 7 or lower the ends of lever 70 both with respect to the cam 35 and the end of lever 71, or by varying the effective length of the arms of lever 70 by moving the fulcrum of said lever to the right or left by an adjusting rod 92, or by adjusting a screw 94 in the end of lever 71 to vary the degree of rotation due to operation of lever 70.

.By referring to Figs. 4 and 8, it will be observed that the valve-stem'17 operates in a bore extending through a sleeve 100, said bore being cylindrical while the exterior of the sleeve is tapered downwardly and fits in a correspondingly tapered bore in the valvehead. A collar 101 surrounds the valve-stem and is seated upon the upper end of the sleeve I100. The collar is threaded into the valve head to force the sleeve downwardly into lthe tapered bore and thus grip the valvestem.v snugly to form an eiicient casing. As the interior of the sleeve becomes worn in use,itf is only necessary to screw collar 101 downwardly to force the sleeve further into the tapered bore and thus press the inner surface of the sleeve snugly around the valvef stem. The sleeve-is preferably of copper and the valve-stem is fitted therein by lapping.

This Vnovel lining may be applied wherever lit is desired to pack anyy operating member such. as a reciprocating or rotating rod, for example, in pumps. In Fig. 9 the` sleeve is shown applied to a plunger 105 in a pump cylinder 106, said plunger being carried by a cross-head 107 pivoted on a strap 108 eccentrically mounted on a shaft 109 to produce reciprocatory movement. The sleeve 100 surrounds the plunger and is tapered on its outer surface to fit into a correspondingly tapered bore in the pump cylinder 106. As the inner surface of the sleeve becomes worn, it is pressed further into the tapered bore by the collar 101 threaded into the cylinder 106. In this manner the sleeve may always be pressed snugly around the plunger 105.

It will be observed that the sleeve or lining is in effect a tubular wedge surrounding the member and interposed between the operating member and the casing. By adjusting the position of the sleeve in the tapered bore by means of collar` 101, any desired pressure may be applied vto the surfaces of the operating member to obtain any desired snugness of engagement between the sleeve and principle of operation of my invention, to-

gether with the apparatus, which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combination and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted without interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention extends to such use.

Having herein described my invention what I claim and desire `to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, and adjustable means whereby the number of valves opened.i

. means having means permittingthe reduction of the quantity of fuel admitted comprising a plurality of separately operable inlet valves,

and means whereby the number of said valves if which are rendered effective may be varied.

4. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, aA plurality of fuel inlet/valves therefor, means for opening said valves, and means whereby one or more of said valves may be positioned beyond the range of said first-- named means so as to be unaffected thereby.

5. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, and means whereby said valves may be positioned relative to said first named means so that certain of said valves may beoperated thereby and certain other of said valves may be positioned beyond the range thereof so as to be unaffected thereby.

6. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, a connecting means between each of said valves and said first-named means, and means whereby any of said connecting means may be rendered ineffective so that the corresponding valves will not be opened by said first-namedmeans.

7. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, a member having a plurality of connecting means adapted to engage the valves, one of said connecting means for each valve, said member being movable to bring said connecting means into effective position so that operation of said first-named means will open one or more of said val-ves, said connecting means being so positioned on said member that movement of said member in one direction will bring said connecting means successively into effective position and movement in the opposite direction will bring said connecting means successively into ineffective position.

8. In an internal combustion engine, a cyl-1 inder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, a member rotatably mounted and having a plurality of connecting means adapted to engage the valves, one of said connecting means for each valve, said member being rotatable to bring said connecting means into effective position so that operation of said first-named means will open one or more of said valves, said connecting means being so positioned on said member that rotation of said member in one direction will bring said connecting means successively into effective position' and rotation in the opposite direction will bring said connecting means successively into ineffective position.

9,. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, a member having a plurality of connecting means adapted to engage the valves, one of said connecting means for each valve, said member being movable to bring said connecting means into effective position so that operation of said first-named means will open one'ormo're of said valves, said connecting means being so positioned on said member that movement `of said member lin one direction will bring said connecting means successively into effective position and movement in the opposite direction will bring said connecting means successively into ineffective position and means for moving said member.

10. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, a member having a plurality of connecting means adapted to engage the valves, one of said connecting means for each valve, said member being movable to bring said connecting means into effective position so that operation of said first-named means will open one 0r more ofsaid valves, said connecting means being so positioned on said member that movement of said member in one direction will bring said connecting means successively into effective position and movement in the opposite direction will bring said connecting means successively into ineffective position, means for moving said member, and means whereby said last named means may be controlled by the governor of the engine.

11. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves. said valves having valve-stems, a head on each of said stems, a plate mounted beneath said heads and spaced therefrom, said plate having a plurality of projections, one for each head, said plate being movable to bring said projections'into engagement with said heads, sc that operation of sai-d means will open said valves.

1Q. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, said valves h aving valve-stems, a head on each of said stems, a plate mounted beneath said heads and spaced therefrom, said plate having a plurality of projections, one for each head, said plate being movable to bring said projections successively into engagement with said heads so that operation of said means will open said valves.

13. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, said valves having valve-stems` a head on each of said stems, a plate mounted beneath said heads and spaced therefrom, said plate having a pluraity'of projections, one for each head, said plate being movable to bring said projections into engagementv with said heads so that operation of said'means'will open ,said valves, said projections being positioned on said plate so that certain Nof said projections may be brought into yengagement with their respective heads to render the respective valves effective while others of said projections are out of engagementv with their respective heads to render the respective valves ineffective.

14. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means, for opening said valves, said valves having. valve-stems, a headgon each of y said stems', a. plate mounted beneath said heads and spaced therefrom, said plate hav-- ing a plurality ofprojections, one foreach head, said plate being movable to bring said projections into engagement With said heads, so that operation of said means will open said valves, said projections being so positioned on said plate that movementof said plate in one direction will bring said projections successively into effectiveposition and* movement in the opposite direction kwill bring said projections successively into ineffective position.

f 15. In. an internal combustion engine, a

cylinder, a plurality of fuel inlet valves therefor, means for opening said valves, said valves having valve-stems, a head on each of "said stems, a plate rotatably mounted bev.nea-thsaid heads andspaced therefrom, said and closing said valves and means for varyingthe extent of movement .of sald firstnamed means, a lost motlon connection between each of said valves and said first named means, said connections being adjustable so that when the first named means is adjusted for limited movement, certain of saidvalves remain closed. v

In testimony lwhereof I have affixed my signature. ELMER A. SPERRY.`

Y Inv-an internal combustion engine, Ia l cylinder, va plurality of `fuel` inlet valves therefor, means foropening said valves, a

-member having -a pluralityV of. connecting `means adapted to engage the valves,"one of said connecting means for each valve, said member being movable to bring said connecting means, into eli'ective position so that operation of said .first-named means will open one or more of said valves, said connecting means being so positioned on said member that movement of said member in one 4direction will bring said connecting means .successively into effective position and movement in theopposite direction will bring said connecting means successively into ineli'ective position, means for moving said membei", hand controlled means for operating said last named means, and means whereby said member-moving means may be controlled by the governor of the engine.

y17. 'In an internal combustion engine, the combination with the cylinder, of a plurality olffuel` valves therein, means fory opening and closing said valves and means for varying the extent of movement of said firstnamedA means, the valves being arranged so lthat when the first named means is adjusted for limited movement, certain of said valves remain closed. y 18. In an internal, combustion engine, the combination with the cylinder, of a plurality of fuel valves therein, means for opening 

